According to a source familiar with the matter at hand, Intel Corp is close to acquiring Israel’s Tower Semiconductor for around $6 billion. The deal comes at a time when Intel is looking to advance its strategy of contract manufacturing chips for other businesses.

An official announcement could potentially come through as later this week, said the source on the condition of anonymity since the matter was private.

The potential acquisition would deepen Intel’s presence in a space dominated by Taiwan-based TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and comes at a time when the world is facing a shortage of semiconductors.

With the news reaching the market, shares of Tower Semiconductor in the US surged by more than 53% in extended trading; the company specializes in analog chips used in the automotive, mobile, medical, aerospace industries.

Tower Semiconductor has a market capitalization of $3.6 billion, as of Monday.

Neither Intel nor Tower Semiconductor immediately responded to requests for comments.

Last month, Intel said it would invest up to $100 billion to build the world’s largest chip-making complex in Ohio.

With the news reaching the market, shares of Intel rose by 0.4%.

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